Android 4.0

Stop me if you've heard (and I'm sure that you have), but after months of waiting and a seemingly endless barrage of delays, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus may be available for purchase later this week.

The latest gossip, which was obtained by Engadget, suggests that the initial release won't be directly from Verizon Wireless, but through retail outlet Costco.

According to a leaked document, the Ice Cream Sandwich-powered smartphone will be on sale come December 15 with a two-year service agreement and a price of $289.99. This is not the first time we've seen … Read more

If, like me, you had assumed that the Samsung Nexus S would be the first Android phone to receive the official update to Ice Cream Sandwich (after its debut with the Samsung Galaxy Nexus), we'd both be wrong.

Huawei has bypassed carriers to distribute the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) operating system to owners of the Huawei Honor through its Web site. (The second tab below the image translates to Software.)

Of course, this demo build is not an official carrier push, and you'd have to be comfortable manually updating your phone from the kernel contained on the Web site. If you don't read the Chinese alphabet, you'll still be able to switch to other languages that Android supports.… Read more

Samsung could beat Apple to market with a tablet packing a high-resolution display, as the two bitter rivals vie to be the first on the block with a next-gen tablet.

Sammy's tab, running Google's Ice Cream Sandwich, would have an 11.6-inch display that is "barely" larger than a 10.1-inch design because of a redesigned bezel, according to a report at BGR.

But most importantly, it would use an eye-popping 2,560x1,600-pixel resolution display, putting it in the same league as Apple's upcoming iPad 3, which is expected to sport a Retina Display. … Read more

Every time the Android team unveils a new version of the platform, users immediately start asking when they will see the update on their respective hardware.

Of course, the question is quite understandable. It doesn't matter whether your smartphone or tablet is one week old or one year old, we want the hot new Android and we want it now. So we wait. And we wait. And we wait.

Unfortunately, a firm release date, not to mention an answer as to why it takes so long, usually isn't available. That's why I'm glad that Motorola has … Read more

PARIS--In the fight between the two smartphone heavyweights, Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt was blunt today about who he thinks is winning.

"Android is ahead of the iPhone now," Schmidt declared to an audience of techies and aspiring entrepreneurs at the LeWeb conference here.

He made his statement to a room bursting at the seams with iPhones, iPads, and Macs, and the audience met his words with a moment of silence that implied some skepticism. So Schmidt elaborated on how he was measuring: "unit volume, Ice Cream Sandwich, the price is lower, there are more vendors." … Read more

Move over, Kindle Fire. Google's Ice Cream Sandwich operating system has landed on a $100 tablet now shipping in China. The 7-inch tablet is also bound for the U.S. market.

U.S.-based MIPS Technologies and Ingenic Semiconductor, a China-based mobile chip provider, announced worldwide availability of the "world's first tablet" based on Android 4.0, aka Ice Cream Sandwich.

"I'm thrilled to see the entrance of MIPS-Based Android 4.0 tablets into the market. Low cost, high performance tablets are a big win for mobile consumers and a strong illustration of how … Read more

Verizon Wireless will begin selling its version of Samsung's Galaxy Nexus smartphone on Friday, according to documents purportedly from an authorized Verizon retailer.

An e-mail and PDF posted by RootzWiki say UPS will ship the phones to Verizon stores on December 6 and gives an "official launch date" of Friday, December 9.

"Do not receive the product in via your scanner (this is a change in procedure)," the e-mail warned those collecting the shipments to stores--perhaps in response to the frequency with which sales plans have been revealed through screenshots of retail inventory systems.

Verizon didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. … Read more

One thing is certain. The Android tablet crowd has beaten Apple to the punch with quad-core silicon--and the list is growing.

In the wake of the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime becoming available for order at stores like Best Buy in the U.S., a few more details have leaked on upcoming quad-core tablets from Acer and Lenovo, according to an Asia-based Digitimes report. … Read more

The Samsung Galaxy Nexus--or Nexus Prime, if you believe certain Best Buy ads--isn't officially available in the U.S., but at least a few places online say they can send you an unlocked version of the phone this week.

Expansys USA first got a batch of the unlocked Google phones running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich last week, and they sold out in 16 hours. U.K.-based Expansys seemed to be the only site offering the unlocked Galaxy Nexus direct to U.S. consumers. The Galaxy Nexus has already been released in the U.K. Expansys has continued to take orders and says it will be restocking and shipping out more phones this week.

Expansys is selling the unlocked version--compatible with AT&T and T-Mobile--for $750 with free shipping and the expectation that it will ship within three days.… Read more